avant-garde and the Buddha Jade Temple

There was one quote from last night’s “Shanghai Art Histories: cracked open” that really enforced this week’s reading. Unfortunately, I don’t remember it exactly, but it was Xhingyu Chen who was speaking and she said something along the lines of China and Shanghai is relatively new to the avant-garde art scene, so the artists are trying to catch up with the rest of the world. As a result, their art is perhaps not as thoughtful and they are more willing to take risks that they might not normally take.

I think this lecture was an interesting contrast with our field trip to the Buddha Jade Temple because the two are both extremes—new and old, modern and traditional, etc. The Buddha Jade Temple of course had all the traditional Buddhist characteristics: the usage of red and primary colors, larger than life deities, an abundance of gold, etc. Everything in the temple is there for a reason, has meaning, and is carefully planned out, unlike the avant-garde, which can come across as unthoughtful and hurried.

Shanghai Avantgarde: Li Shan and Dai Hengyang

Li Shan
• Li Shan was born in Lanxi County in Heilongjiang province and graduated from the Shanghai Academy of Drama in 1968.and became a teacher in Shanghai Academy of Drama till the end of Cultural Revolution.
• “Phase 1983 Painting Experimental Show” (later referred to as the "Ten Painters Show") opened at Fudan University in 1983.
• “First Shanghai Concave – Convex Exhibition, Xuhui Cultural Centre, Shanghai in 1986.
• The “Last Supper – Second Concave Show” opened in December of 1988 at the Shanghai Art Gallery
• “China/Avant -garde Art Exhibition” exhibited at National Art Museum of China, Beijing in 1989.


• “Rouge" series(1989-2006)

• “Reading”series (1998-)

Dai Hengyang
• Born in shanghai in 1946, Dai Hengyang graduated from the Shanghai Academy of Drama in 1969.
• “Phase 1983 Painting Experimental Show” (later referred to as the "Ten Painters Show") opened at Fudan University in 1983.
• Gold award of the National Art Exhibition :”in the field full of hope”in 1985.(《在希望的田野上》)
• “On my way to Shache” 《赴莎车途中 》2004

Dai Hengyang studied classicism and impressionism when he was in school while later he changed his view to expressionism. His work “in the field full of hope”(1985) about the just better-off Chinese farmers won the gold award of national art exhibition in 1986 and it is also one of his most famous work in 1980s. Dai Hengyang seemed to be confused by thousands of new ways of expressions of art in 1990s and he draw his confusion into the painting “clouds” in which the clouds look like rocks floating in the sky meanwhile also similar to simplized Chinese calligraphy. In 2004 Dai Hengyang put forward his latest series : “On my way to Shache” 《赴莎车途中 》.These paintings show us the ordinary life of people, the unique customs, beautiful landscape in Xinjiang province and the artist’s observation on traditional cultural in rural area.

Shanghai Avent Garde: Zha Guojun and Zhou Jiahua

Zhou Jiahua

Date of Birth: 1956 Shanghai, China

Education: Shanghai Theater Academy of Fine Arts Department July 1980
Work: Shanghai Oil Painting Sculpture house: Associate Professor
Featured:

Shanghai Agricultural Exhibition Hall Art and Design
Shanghai Moma
Mandarin Fine Art Gallery
Style:
Like many other artists of his time period, he had two sets of skills. The first of which was calligraphy. His works of modern art of course his second. Zhou Jiahua uses unique materials such as glass and porcelain in combination with oils that give his art a pop-up book nature.
Significance: Member of initial struggling contemporary artists in the 80's and 90's. Featured in Ten Painters Show, but was part of its struggle. Zhou added its name to China as early as 1980 in newspapers, magazines, with his works featuring full strong emotions and personality ( "83 'experimental and Paintings" in 1986) Many of his works he chooses to not feature in exhibits, as he like many artists of the time period, believe art to be one of lifestyle rather then profit.

Excerpts from the village collection

Zha Guojun
Date of Birth: 1943 Kunshan, Jiangsu, China
Education: Shanghai Theater Academy 1967
Traveled to the United States, where he resides
Lived in said location for 18 years, further developing his unique style
Features:
China National Museum of Fine Arts in Beijing
Shanghai Art Museum
Style:
Initially starts with landscape paintings, which he was well know for.
Moves on to oil paintings one coming to states, art adopts a surreal feel to them
"他极富表现力的抽象画里，其气势表现出强烈的波动起伏，并如火山爆发般的光芒四射，象征着一种非凡的超越。 He has a very expressive abstract art, its strong momentum is shown by the volatility of ups and downs, and a volcanic eruption-like shine, is often times a symbol of the great beyond. 在这里，虚与实交织在一起，遥远和神秘颤动着去抓住宇宙间和谐的实质。 Here is intertwined with the virtual, remote and mysterious vibration of the universe to grasp the essence of harmony."
Significance: As with Zhou Jiahua, was a member of the second wave contemporary Shanghai artists. He two was present during the closing of the "Ten Painters Show". Although he now resides in the states, his work is still shown in the area, as well as still actively creating new pieces to further push Shanghai's and China's contemporary art scene

Excerpts from the two heroes collection

Shanghai Avant Garde: Leng Hong and Zhou Jiahua

Leng Hong
-Born in 1955 in Shanghai, China
-Studied at Shanghai Institute of Theater and Dramatic Art
-Currently resides in Montreal, Canada

Zhou Jiahua

-Born in 1956 in Shanghai, China

-Studied at Shanghai Theater Academy of Fine Arts Department of print professinals

-Currently resides in Shanghai, China

Shanghai AvantGarde- Sun Liang and Gao Jin

While the Cultural Revolution in China brought a standstill to creative artistic expression, Deng Xiaoping’s call for “opening up” profoundly influenced a young generation of burgeoning artists.  Artists quickly rejected the constraining teachings of the traditional art academy, which had promoted socialist realism in both content and style, and looked towards the west for inspiration while exploring the freedom of individual expression. Sun Liang is considered to be one of the most important participants of the “85 New Wave”, a group of artists that have been accredited with the birth of contemporary Chinese art. Born in 1957 in Hangzhou, he graduated from the Shanghai Light Industry College in 1982 and has lived in Shanghai ever since. His work focuses on Chinese history and experience through a combination of eastern and western mythological imagery. His choice of subject matter is generally dark and painted in a crude manner, provoking comparison to the work of Jean-Michelle Basquiat. In Icarus and the Nine Suns (1989), Sun Liang depicts the Greek mythological tale of Icarus, who was given wings to fly out of imprisonment in Crete, only to have his wings melted by the sun and subsequently drowned in the sea. The message is particular pertinent to the artistic climate of the 1980’s, where artists were given a period of free reign to develop a distinct avant-garde, only to have this freedom significantly curtailed with the events of Tiananmen Square in 1989. In Icarus and the Nine Suns, a skeleton figures falls downward, surrounded by seven looming skulls with fierce facial expressions.  It is an image of the artist in such a turbulent cultural environment, as well as an image of the individual in China during an uncertain era.

            While Sun Liang focuses on the primacy of Chinese experience, it is significant to note that his allusions come from a wide variety of Western sources. Ophelia  (1998) depicts Hamlet’s famous femme fatale in a strikingly similar composition as his 1989 Icarus and the Nine Suns. By adapting Western themes to address issues of Chinese identity, his work attests to the universality of experience. While Icarus and the Nine Suns can be seen as addressing the particular political climate in 1989, Ophelia can be seen as addressing these same issues nine years later--- illustrating society’s current delusional state, stuck in a situation between modernization and government control. 

            Sun Liang has cemented himself as a pioneer of contemporary Chinese art. He was featured prominently in the China/Avant Garde Exhibition at the National Museum of Fine Arts, Beijing in 1989, which proved to be a seminal exhibition in defining contemporary Chinese art. He also represented China at the 1993 Venice Biennial. In the early 1990’s, Sun Liang moved his studio into an old house beside People’s Square. He began to collect images of works by local artist and has set up small-scale archives. He currently teaches at the Shanghai University of Science and Technology, and continues to paint. His more recent works looks toward Chinese techniques and imagery, and use calligraphy, scroll painting, and brush and ink painting as stylistic influences.

____________________________________________________

The period between the Cultural Revolution and the "85 New Wave" was an uncertain time for artistic activity, yet there was still a small group of artists who pioneered new forms of expression in retaliation against the prevalent social realist dogma. Gao Jin is considered to be at the forefront of this particular era, helping to open up the arts to new and diverse influences. Gao Jin was born in 1933 in Beijing, and studied at the prestigious Central Academy of Fine Arts in the late 1950's. She subsequently moved to Mongolia and lived there for the next thirty years. As a member of an ethnic minority herself, Gao Jin took on minorities as her subject matter, even though there was official pressure not to do so at the time. In form, her work has evolved stylistically. While her earlier work mirrors the Soviet influence that was embedded in the propaganda poster program, her later work shows significantly Western influences. Gao Jin is the art editor of Inner Mongolia Art Magazine, and has since moved to the United States.

 

Chinese Avant-Guarde: Ding Yi & Zhou Tiehai

DING YI

-Born 1962. Shanghai, China
- School of Fine Arts, Shanghai University
-One of the few abstract artists in Chinese contemporary art
-Painting known for its geometric abstractions. His style is known for repetition of his + and x (crosses) on canvas & tartan.
- Also uses bright neo-fluorescent colors.















ZHOU TIEHAI













-Born 1966. Shanghai, China
-School of Fine Arts, Shanghai University
-His art was initially used as his instrument of revenge on western collectors and the Chinese contemporary art scene.
-His style is famed for its iconic Joe Camel head.

Shanghai AvantGarde- Chen Zhen & Song HaiDong

Chen Zhen
- Born in Shanghai
- Died Dec. 2000
- Known for object-based installations
- Works displayed collisions of cultural worlds
- Artworks are mostly abstract







Song HaiDong
- Emerged in 1980s as part of AvantGarde movement
- Challenging traditional forms of art-making in search for more conceptual directions.
- Pieces made use of physical objects and synthetic materials
- Artworks used to express great opinions
- Sculpture as a carrier of conceptual art


The Earth in the Eye of Extraterrestrials

Shanghai AvantGarde- Pan Dehai and Zhou Changjiang

Basic Notes on Pan Dehai

• Born in 1956 in Si Ping City, Jilin Province, China.


• Graduated from the Fine Art Department of the Northeast Normal University in Changchun, Jilin Province.


• Known for painting cherubic figures that look cute, but it's a sinister humor that criticizes modern society--especially obesity problems.


• Uses Bubbly colors of electric blues, the vivid pinks, the grays of immense variety


• However, there is a special eeriness to it

Examples of Pan Dehai's artworks

Basic notes on Zhou Changjiang

• Born in 1950 in Jiangsu Province, China
  
• Graduated from Oil Painting Dept., Shanghai Drama Academy and served at research studio of Shanghai Oil Painting and Sculpture Institute.


• Works as a professor of Art Dept., East China Normal University, co-professor of Fine Arts College of Shanghai University


• Absolutely no information on his theme, artworks, and analysis.


• His focus seems to be abstract oil paintings


• His most recent group show was this year at K. Gallery in Chengdu, Sichuan called
  Another Experiment: Contemporary new Abstraction.

Examples of Zhou Changjiang's Works